All You Can Eat
by positively.ecstatic
Summary: The flock finds themself in Las Vegas and meet a girl named Em. Everyone instantly loves her, but Fang thinks something's wrong. Is he right? Faxness and Iggy x Em coming later. Niggy even farther away, when Nudge is old enough. T for safety. ABANDONED.
1. Vegas Buffets

-1**So this is my first MR fanfic, and I don't have a beta, so I'm sorry if it totally sucks. I've never thought I was that good of an author, but I try, and, if I do say so myself, have turned out some good works. I've been trying to get some inspiration for a long time, and then this came to me. So, I'll quit babbling and let you get on to reading. Hope it's not too long.**

**Disclaimer: No matter how many times I wish upon stars and random satellites, I do not own Maximum Ride. JP does, lucky man.**

"I'm hungry," Nudge announced as we soared effortlessly through the air, the tips of my wings slightly directing me towards the west, towards California, towards Disneyland. Once we had blown up Itex, the flock had convinced me to take them here, since our trip to the Mickey Mouse World had been ruined by Ari. Poor guy; my heart still aches every time I think about him.

But now I had other problems, like where to find food for five, well, if I was being honest with myself, six, hungry bird mutants in the middle of desert. We had eaten about three and a half hours ago, but that didn't make our hunger any less ravishing. "We'll find something soon," I told her.

"Can we please, please, please go to a nice restaurant, Max?" Nudge prodded. Great. This was going to make it even harder to find. "I mean, it's been, like, forever. And, oh! I know! We could go to one of those buffet places! That way we could eat all that we wanted, and not spend as much money! And, after all, I always liked buffets, because you have all these diff-" She was cut off my the hand I had placed firmly around her mouth, though she did make a few indignant muffles before quieting down.

"I'm sure I can arrange that," I said, not being at all sure, but lying in that great leader-ly way I have. Nudge smiled brightly at me as I removed my hand, and seemed content to dwell on the prospect of food silently for about… oh, I don't know, 10 seconds? Then she flew over to Iggy and started talking about… well, I don't know, I was pretty occupied.

I looked helplessly down at the sand, willing there to be some inexplicably placed all-you-can-eat diner stuck in-between a couple cacti.

As if to try to answer my search, I saw spotlights about 58 miles away. It took less than a minute to figure it out. We were passing through Nevada, and I had never seen so many spotlights, not even in New York. Las Vegas. It was a very flashy place. Well, why the he-heck not? It seemed like it might be fun, and I could definitely use to have some good things happen to me, like a fed flock.

"Look, there's a couple million places down there," I pointed out warmly.

The flock looked down simultaneously and oohed and awed. Well, except Fang of course. The pretty lights excited him, too, though. I could tell my the gleam that had lit up his eyes. That settles it; we were off to Vegas… the _second_ city that never sleeps.

But the longer we took in the air, the more I thought about all the ads I'd seen. I mean, it's freaking Sin City! I know that Angel and Gazzy were mature for their age, but I still didn't want them to be in any city with "sin" in the name. Not that we were by any means innocent, but still.

I didn't want to let them down, though, after I'd gotten their hopes up. What to do, what to do? I truly hate being the leader in these situations. I mean, what was I supposed to say? Sorry, but I'm afraid you young, impressionable children should not be in this inappropriate town? I would sound like a prick, Fang would scoff internally, Iggy would want to go more, and the three youngest would be offended.

Thinking of the younger ones, I mentally guarded my mind quickly, in case Angel wasn't quite as absorbed with Total as she appeared. We were nearing the lights quickly, way too quickly. Da-darn! This was _not _good.

Suddenly it came to me, like in New York as we passed the library. I was so good at the improv thing. Not all of Vegas could be covered with clubs and posters, could it? There had to be nice little suburbs or something, with buffets. Right? Of course.

So, around a minute later, as we were on top of the blaring lights, and the flock started to lower themselves, I jumped in with "Not yet, our destination's a little further." Fang cocked in eyebrow at me, and, despite the pitch black that had covered the night less than an hour ago, his face was illuminated brightly by the doings of the below city.

"What do you mean, Max?" Nudge asked. "I mean, this is where you pointed earlier, right? Where are we going if not here? I mean, well, "here" is very vague, I suppose, but, you know, I mean the ci-"

Nudge was cut off by Fang, who said, in that cool and collected way he has, "I think what Max means is, Vegas is not a suitable place for a 6-year old." He looked superiorly at me, as Angel yelped indignantly. **(A/N: Is that the second time I've used "indignant" in this chapter?)**

"Well," I began, struggling to keep my cool and surreptitiously shoot daggers at Fang. "I mean, that's not what I'm saying at all." I was about to continue, but Iggy interrupted me.

"Vegas? We're flying over _Las Vegas_, and you're trying to keep me away?" he said, indignation **(A/N: Ah! There it is again! What is wrong with me?) **dripping from his words.

I sighed. "Fine, we'll go later. Um, in the morning. But for now, I'm the leader, and we'll go where I want to." I knew if I argued with Iggy, he'd probably end up losing and then flying down anyway, leaving us no choice but to follow him. And it couldn't be as bad during the day, right?

Iggy seemed like he was seriously considering dropping down to the lights, but I guess he figured he'd get to go later, and therefore wasn't worth getting his butt kicked for. (A/N: Was that confusing?) He shrugged and kept flying forward, while the others seemed to brood silently, especially Angel and Fang.

I knew Angel was hurt that I thought she wasn't mature enough, but I couldn't figure out why Fang was mad at me. The only thing I could think of was that I had managed to slip out of the situation he had set me up for. That jerk.

I held back until he was flying right beside me, and the tips of my tan wings brushed gently against his pitch black. Then, flopping my combat boot-armed foot up, I quickly kicked him in the stomach. He grunted, more out of surprise then pain, and I smiled and giggled.

Hah! Take that, Mr. Let's Get Max In Trouble. I soared up for a few seconds, still laughing, before he could retaliate, laying on the hyper speed. I knew I'd have to pay for it later, but for right now, it was worth it.

You know, it's really pretty up in the night air, looking down on the mosaic of Las Vegas. Maybe I really would have fun tomorrow. But for now, I had better find some food for my flock.

**OK… now, review! You know you want to! Flame away, if you like. **

**Now, out of respect for I'll have some stupid cliche:**

**Peace and Love and Sneaking Kicks at Fang (Though only Max, Ari, and a few erasers have been able to do it..),**

**Emiline Forest (No, it's a penname.)**


	2. Faxness Max

**Special Thanks to hxcb and ****QuEeNoFwHiNiNg for their reviews and story alerts. You made me feel special. ******

**Sorry that it took so long to update. First I had shows to go to and my older sister was hogging my computer, then I was in the Grand Canyon, then I was on a plane flying back. It's 12:07 right now on Monday, and I got back around 9:30 Sunday. I know; excuses, excuses. I'll try to make it up by posting the third chapter by tomorrow at 12:07, but I can't promise anything.**

**OK, so I was in Vegas when I wrote the first chappie, which is where I got the idea. So, on Tuesday, I went to see Ka, before going to the restaurant featured in this chappie. So, along with the Phantom of the Opera that I saw on Wednesday, are you interested in having the flock go see that?**

**Disclaimer: As much as I long for the rights, I do not own Maximum Ride. ******

Flying is just so nice. Even as my mind was occupied with searching for food, I was able to appreciate how wonderful it was, to be able to feel the wind flow powerfully under your wings as you cut through it effortlessly. It's like swimming, only about 100 times better.

Of course, I had my eyes down on the ground, focusing on hopeful building after hopeful building, then and moving on after a slight disappointment. We had left the really flashy area a little less than a minute ago, and it was more like a regular city now.

I focused in on a shopping center, reading several titles that didn't help my search. My eyes zoomed in on a sign in red neon lights "Sushi Factory." Hmm, that sounded promising. And, although we'd only had it once or twice before, sushi seemed to go well with the kids, despite the expense.

I looked through the window at a huge plastic yellow banner. In bright red all caps, it bellowed, "ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI." I didn't read any further. I knew we'd found our place. How lucky that it had been me that saw it and not Fang. I never would have heard the end of it.

Funny, huh? That we'll never make fun of someone for missing a kick at an eraser, but if someone does your job, they tease you endlessly. Hmm. We need to sort out our priorities, definitely.

"Come on guys, we're eating sushi," I said, beginning to tuck in my wings. I looked back at my flock to study their expressions, stifling a laugh as I did so.

Nudge looked absolutely thrilled, eyes wide, mouth open in a huge smile; she was more animated than I had seen her in, well, since the last time we had sushi. It had become her favorite food. I have a hard time believing that, seeing as it's raw, and she thought the hawks' eating habits were so disgusting.

Seeing Iggy's similar expression, I couldn't help but think, quite irrationally, that the blind bird-kid just might have something to do with Nudge's enthusiasm.

Gazzy was absolutely hysterical. At my words, he had apparently thrown his fist into the air and surged upward and was now looking down at the flock, from about a ten feet above, with this slightly confused expression. It looked something like "Um… I didn't expect to go this far…," and his arm was falling dejectedly towards his side.

Angel looked like she was trying to remember what sushi was, and Fang seemed slightly miffed, his arm crossed over his black tee and a shine in his eyes that I recognized as annoyance. Probably that I had found a restaurant and he hadn't. Once more, I was flooded by the feeling that he was a jerk.

I wondered if I was still hurt about him leaving me. I shook that off, thinking that it had only been inconvience that had made it me so heartbroken when he left. Well, okay, I knew it was more than that. Friendship? I shook my head to clear the thought I knew would come next.

You can't blame me for not always succeeding. I am only an avian-human hybrid, after all. Flashes of scenes with Fang ran through my head, but instead of the pain I felt with the headaches, there was this strange warmth in my chest.

Fang smiling at me as a chunk of his dark hair flopped over his right eye; at the beach, him breathing as relief surged through my body and the way his lips felt underneath mine when I kissed him; his strong arms wrapping around me, catching me after I fell; the cave, the small fire flickering as he ran his fingers through my hair and kissed me so passionately; holding his hand and saying loopily that I loved him sooooo much; running into his arms after Paris.

"It's okay, Max. He likes you, too." There was a whisper by my elbow. I stopped myself, with much restraint, from jumping a foot in the air and turned to face Angel. We were angled towards the dark area about 15 feet away from the "Sushi Factory," coming up on the ground fast.

"Hmm?" I asked, confused. She couldn't be talking about Fang; I didn't like him and he certainly didn't like me.

_Well, he _did _kiss you_, I reminded myself.

_He was trying to convince me to settle down,_ I argued with myself.

_Riiiight_, the Fax shipper in me said sarcastically, _that's _all_ it was._

"Faxness Max is right, Max," Angel said matter-of-factly. I stared out her, surprised. It wasn't that she had heard my internal argument; I knew I hadn't put up the mental barrier. It was that she was siding with the irrational part of me.

Did that mean she had information from Fang's thoughts? Did he like me? I tried to ignore the wave of hope that ran through me at that thought. I was about to ask Angel about it, but we had landed.

"Well, let's check it out," Fang said, his voice level and emotionless. I stole a glance at him lingering over his chocolate eyes **(A/N: Is that the color of his eyes, or is that just my imagination?)** a little longer than the rest of his features.

I saw no feeling in them at the moment, much less feelings for me. I pushed down the feeling of grief and walked along, turning my head to give Fang a "We are not amused" look. I got a smirk in return and my heart skipped a beat. It was a teensy, tiny beat, but it was definitely missed. Damn.

**OK, so there was a lot of Fax in that chapter. I seriously didn't mean for that to happen. My stories often take a life of their own, denying my wishes. It gets quite frustrating, actually. Now, let's go for (holds breath) 2 reviews! I hope I can write the third chapter fast enough!**

**Peace and Love and Fighting Internally,**

**Emiline**


	3. Meeting Em

**Special thanks to TaraDragonWing, I'm the Almighty Spell Check, becca4life, Birdhearted , and QuEeNoFwHiNiNg for their reviews, and streetsista678 for her Author Alert. Every one made me smile hugely. :D **

**I am so so so so SO sorry. I have still have no internet access, and can't post this. Sorry for breaking the 12:07 thing. I keep thinking it'll come back but it's not. So now I'm moving to extremes: tracking down a memory stick and putting it in a computer that DOES have internet access. Hopefully, I'll have it in soon.**

**Disclaimer: As much as I have cried buckets of tears in hopes that I would be able to gain the sympathy of JP, I do not own Maximum Ride. I do, however, own the random plot as well as Em and Regina. So no stealing. :) **

I was still mourning my obvious loss of sense when I heard a screech ahead. I saw a white BMW, the top rolled down. A brunette and older woman with thick black hair, streaked with a few shining gray strands were the passengers.

I looked warningly at the flock, and all got the message, except Iggy. So I tapped his hand twice to let him know to listen. I could see him slightly nod and in the faint light of the stores and restaurants, although I could have easily seen him without it.

I tuned in. "Love ya, Regina," the brunette said to the raven-haired woman, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Regina looked in her thirties and was driving; the younger girl, around thirteen or fourteen, didn't seem to be related to her, since Regina was Asian.

Regina handed the girl a couple bills. Zooming in, I saw three twenties. "Be safe. Call me when you're done. Sorry we have business, Em."

Em shrugged, looking impassive. "It's not your fault. See ya in a couple of hours." With that, Em got out of the car and turned to the restaurant. I was able to see piercing blue eyes as she turned.

Regina waved goodbye as she pulled out and drove into the distance, the quiet purr of the convertible growing softer and softer.

I inspected Em as we waited, watching, in the darkness. She had tight black jeans on, a slight flare at the bottom. They fit tightly around her long legs, despite being a bit thin.

Her waist was small, too, and she had on a tight gold shirt with a huge orange pumpkin on it. The words "Ootori-sama is not a pumpkin!" were spread across the winter vegetable in loopy, fun lettering.

I saw a flash of pink and gray flip flops on her feet as Em walked further towards the restaurant we were going to eat in. I made a snap decision; those gut instinct ones that I'm known for.

Giving a quick "Don't even try to stop me," glare at Fang, I stepped out of our sheltered area and into the lights, now visible to anyone looking my way. I could feel daggers being shot at me from behind my back, but I ignored it.

Quickening my pace by a few strides, I walked up to the door, making it at the same time as Em. At first, she absentmindedly stepped back and mumbled a sorry, retreating to let me pass.

But then Em looked up at me, still in a second nature kind of way. When she saw my appearance, she froze. Se looked like she was tracing over my features with her eyes. It looked like she also made a snap decision, because she suddenly snapped **(A/N: Get it? **_**Snap**_** decision; **_**snapped**_**? … Oh, forget it!)** out of her stiff posture and greeted me with a braces- clad smile.

"Hi, I'm Em," she said, her smile deepening. It was rather nice, despite the glare from the metal intruder. I returned her smile as warmly as I could with all my hesitancies about making friends with non-flock members.

"Max," I said, shaking her hand. The grip was gentle; she didn't seem threatening. I relaxed slightly, but not much, especially because of the way her eyes brightened when she had heard my name.

"What are you doing in Vegas?" she asked, reaching for the door again and holding it open for me. With a wary glance towards the flock, still hidden, I walked in.

"Just passing through," I asked, purposefully not mentioning where we were headed, paranoid avian-human hybrid that I am.

"Yeah?" I nodded. "I'm here visiting my dad and stepmom," Em explained, and I realized that Regina must be her stepmother. I felt a pain of jealousy at the fact she had _three _parents that loved her, while I had none. (A/N: To try and reduce spoilers, Max doesn't know who her parents are yet.)

"Hey, you know?" Em said, fiddling with an emerald ring, finger on the polished gold band. "Why don't we eat together? I've been here a lot, and I doubt you've ever seen the inside more than once." I was conflicted. What was I supposed to do? "Now," Em clarified.

I couldn't really deny it. Well, what harm could it really do? "Um, sure," I said uncertainly. "The rest of my fl-family is outside. I'll go get them."

Em looked about ready to explode with joy. "Okay!"

As I walked out the door towards an angry flock, or at least an angry Fang, bracing myself, I saw Em doing a happy dance out of the corner of my eye. Hmm.

**OK, so that was kind of OC and confusing, but oh well. The next chapter might not be as boring and filler-like. Now press that little purple button, whether you liked it or not, and REVIEW! (meekly)** **Please… For me…**

**Peace, Love, and Weird Girls that You Meet at Sushi Buffets,**

**Emiline**


	4. Too Full Flock?

**Special thanks to my Anonymous reviewer, becca4life, and Birdhearted, QuEeNoFwHiNiNg, I'm The Almighty Spell Check, anony-mouse, and Jeb's-worst-nightmare for reviews, and Jeb's-worst-nightmare for Author Alert. I really love getting reviews. They just make me so happy. Thanks for making me happy. **

**So, admittedly, when I started this, I had no plot. This was just going to be a random fic where the flock met characters that were really odd. But, as I began writing this, I realized how very boring it is not only for m e to write it, but for me to write as well. Now you can relax because, why there is no intricacy at this moment, I do have a rough sketch. And things DO happen.**

**I'm leaving for the beach on Saturday, so I probably won't have internet service for quite a while. So, I plan on writing a few chapters (if possible). If only because I'm absolutely desperate for this plot to become a plot.**

**Disclaimer: Unless Hanyou gets her cloning machine working, and I bribe her with cookies, I don't own Maximum Ride. :( **

"Really, Fang! She's harmless!" I objected for the millionth time.

"We though Anne was harmless, too!"

"No," I shouted, getting angry now, "_you_ thought Anne was harmless. _You_ and the _rest_ of the flock!"

"That's right." His voice was calmer now, barely a whisper. I could tell he was trying to calm me down. "You're normally so sensible with things like this. What's gotten into you?"

What's gotten into me? _What's gotten into me?!_ What's gotten into _him_? I was tired of him overruling me. "Look Fang," I growled. "I'm going in there; anyone that wants to eat off my credit card is coming with. If you don't like it, just go to freaking LA again!"

I could tell I had hit a nerve because his eyes glazed over with hurt for a few seconds before he was able to recompose it. When he spoke, his face was a blank mask. "I promised you I wouldn't," he said softly.

I blushed slightly, but regained my internal balance quickly. "Then you'll follow me, whether you like it or not. Regardless of what you think, I am still the leader."

The flock just kind of watched us openmouthed, except Iggy of course, but even he looked surprised. We didn't get into too many fights, at least not in front of the flock.

I spun around on my heel and headed towards the door. With my enhanced bird-kid vision, I could hear five sets of soft footsteps behind me.

**(A/N: I can't figure out my line break on this Microsoft07, so just pretend there is one here, since we're going to a different part of the story, and the above just isn't a chapter. And this has gotten much longer than it needs to be.)**

"So this is the rest of your family?" Em asked as she saw us again, smiling hugely.

"Yep," I said, smiling back. She was the kind of girl that was just so happy, her joy was contagious. Maybe that's why I had felt so comfortable around her earlier. I hadn't wanted to admit it, but I trusted her almost as much as Ella and Dr. Martinez.

Fang looked up, and nodded briefly, apparently immune to Em's happy disease. Iggy did the same, smiling lightly, and Nudge gave a huge grin to her. Gazzy had this cute little crooked smile that made my heart beat and Angel looked, well, angelic.

"Goodness, they're so cute!" Em exclaimed, rubbing her hand through with Gazzy's spikes. "Well, the younger ones," she added apologetically towards us 14 year olds. I nodded as Gazzy ran his fingers through his hair, trying to put it back with a grimace.

"Oh, sorry," Em said to Gazzy, blushing. "I always forget that kids don't like me to do that." Her loose hair moved gently as she laughed, the soft ringing reminding of a bell.

Iggy looked up, surprised, glancing around as to where the sound had come from; although I was sure he had been able to tell. He looked a little enchanted, and for a moment I was worried. With a glance back at Em, however, I thought of it as nothing.

She wasn't particularly beautiful, and her voice wasn't incredibly melodic or anything. Em's body wasn't nearly as model-like as ours, but she seemed so sweet. She appealed to me as a friend even more than she had when I had first met her. Actually, much more.

"Well, come on," Em said, laughing again. "Why don't we find a table, and you can introduce me."

"Oh, right," I said, turning a little pink. "I forgot about that." Em smiled and shrugged as if to say "don't worry about it."

"Em, this is Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel." I pointed to each member of my flock as I said their name. "Guys, this is Em." We sat down at a huge table, with enough room for ten people.

"It's great to meet you," Em said, picking up a menu labeled "ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI." She turned it over to the back. "And I'll welcome you by giving you some of my favorites."

With another smile, she read off a lot of different rolls that she thought were best, including a PB roll, dragon roll, Japanese Lasagna, and spider roll. She also recommended the miso soup, seaweed salad, vegetable tempura, and edamame.

"Um, Iggy, would you like me to read your menu for you?" Em asked shyly, blushing slightly and looking down at the menu. Iggy, surprised, sat up at the mention of himself and then cleared his throat.

"Uh, yeah. Ah, that would be nice. Thanks, Em." Nudge frowned.

After getting us all green teas, the server came around again, asking for our order. "Now, remember guys, this is only our first round. They'll be plenty of time for more later." Em smiled, and then let us order first.

Despite the hunger that now almost completely overwhelmed me, I ordered lightly. Seaweed salad, edamame, miso soup, one order of vegetable tempura, three rolls, and a sashimi order of tuna, yellowtail, and salmon. Following my lead, the rest of the flock ordered more or less the same.

Em surprised us all by ordering my exact meal, plus one roll. "I thought this was supposed to be the first round," I said, startled.

"It is," Em said, smiling again, "I always eat a lot here. It's a buffet, so I can eat more than twice the amount I would get for this price if I ate somewhere else." She giggled at the thought. "Although their tuna _can_ get a bit fishy sometimes," she added dreamily.

(A/N: LINE BREAK!)

We had all dug in, and it was nice to have a full stomach. I mean a _really _full stomach.

"Uhh.." I groaned. I hadn't though it possible, but I had eaten too much. The rest of the flock and Em moaned with me. Em had eaten a good share, but we had all devoured much more than her.

"You guys are worse than me, and I've been named "Bottomless Pit" here!" Em exclaimed, smiling though a little strained. Her stomach had expanded, and she now had a pooch, while the rest of our bodies hadn't been affected. Except for the fact I felt like I was about to explode. It would be impossible to fly tonight.

_Please, _please_ don't let there be any erasers_, I thought pleadingly. I knew there was only one choice **(A/N: I know, it's kind of OC, but there's no help for it.)**, and I had to take it.

I thought about how Em had tried to pay for us with the rest of her money, but I had rejected her. I hated to get charity, especially money, from my friends. I wondered if she would help us out in another way, though.

"Em, could we stay at your place tonight? We hadn't booked a hotel, and it'd b impossible to travel, like we had planned."

"What about your parents?" Em asked nervously. Oh, crap. I had been hoping she wouldn't ask that.

"Um, our parents are missionaries. We were traveling to our… Aunt Hattie's. But it's still a while away."

"Oh." Em thought about it for a while, looking kind of distant. After a long pause, she said, "Well, if it's okay with Dad and Regina, I don't see why not. I'm staying in a room with two beds, so the girls can stay in there, and there's a mattress in the hall that the guys can sleep on." Suddenly she looked apologetic. "I'm afraid it's only a queen, though," she said, eyeing Iggy and Fang.

"We've had worse, our parents being missionaries, after all," I said quickly, hoping she wouldn't change her mind.

"Well, okay then," Em said, shrugging. "Let me go call them." She got up from the table and headed towards the bathroom, tugging a silver RAZR from her jean pocket as she did so.

As soon as she was out of hearing distance, Fang spoke up.

"Max…" he said warily. I hushed him.

"Max…" he said, his voice sharper this time.

"Shush!" I told him. He tried once more, but after I snubbed him again, he just sat in his chair, shooting death glares at me.

A few minutes later, Em came out with one of her smiles. "Well, you can come!" she said happily. I smiled back.

**So… that was still sort of pointless, but there has to be some of those in order to build up to the big events. This one just kind of introduced you to Em, and the next one may be similar. I think these chapters are needed, though, and it'll get better. :) Now review! And, just so you know, I really don't mind being flamed. It gives me motivation to get better. I'll try to write at least one chapter while I'm on vacation, and I'll post it as soon as I have internet!**

**Peace, Love, and Eating Way More Than You're Supposed To,**

**Emiline**


	5. Addictions and Immunities

**Thanks to I'll have some stupid cliche, guess who (XD, you couldn't have signed in, lil?), Myrah, RetteMich, and QuEeNoFwHiNiNg for their reviews, and I'll have some stupid cliché for her Story Alert. I'm just so happy that you like it, even though it's not even fully developed yet!**

**Let's try for one more chapter before I go, heh? One quick note- Em is not me, just to clear that up.**

**Disclaimer: As I do not have billions of dollars in my possession in order to pay off JP, I do not own Maximum Ride. (whimpers pathetically)**

Em saw two cars out in the parking lot before us. "Look! It's them!" She pointed to a tan van with the words "DURANGO" imprinted in shiny silver on the front grill. It was long, and Em seemed confident that it would fit all of us.

As we walked out, the waiters gave us death glares. I'm serious; if looks could kill, we'd all be six feet under right now, no nonsense about erasers or whitecoats.

Regina greeted us, giving Em a hug. "These are my friends," Em said, pulling away. "Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel." Regina looked taken aback at our strange names. She shrugged ever so slightly, apparently deciding not to comment.

As I looked at her eyes, I thought she might be Japanese, as her eyes were tilted upward.

_No, she's Thai_, a voice corrected in my head. The voice. _My_ voice. Oh, joy.

_Took you a while to make entrance. Not that I'm complaining. And how the _hell _do you know these things?_

_I know everything, Max. You should know that by now._

_Hmm… too bad I choose not to. Now go away!_ I thought, willing it to let me have my head to myself. Hah! How many 14 year olds can say _that_?

_I will this once_, the Voice said, to my bewilderment and relief, _Em and Regina are starting to stare… _Oh crap, forgot about them.

"Max? Max?" Em said, sounding concerned and waving a hand in front of my face.

"Oh yeah, I was just talking to my Vo- vi- vivid imagination." She didn't seem convinced. "You know, staring off into space. That's another word for it." Em and Regina just stared at me.

"Right. Um, okay then." Em looked at me like I belonged in a mental institute, which I probably did. "Let's just get in the car."

We piled in: Regina and Em in the front seats, Fang, Iggy, and I in the middle, while Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy climbed into the far back. We fit perfectly, if a little cramped.

Best of all, Fang was in-between Iggy and me, so he had the least room of the three of us.

"Get off me, Max!" he grunted, elbowing me while somehow still maintaining a calm, collected facial expression.

"I'm not the one intruding someone's personal space," I snarled. "If you want more space, ask Iggy to move." I shoved him.

Fang immediately went back into place, leaning on me. As I breathed him in, I temporarily had thoughts about him as, well, more than a friend, but I quickly pushed them back.

"Get off, dork," I growled, pushing him again. Fang opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Regina.

"Hey! Stop!"

"I'm sorry if it's too cramped," Em said softly with a small frown. At once, I felt bad. I glanced over at Fang, who seemed unphased. Then again, he almost always seemed unphased.

"No, really, it's fine," I _said_ quickly, turning my attention back to Em. She smiled brightly at me and turned back in her seat.

**(A/N: Line break again, I'm sorry. D:)**

"Max?" Nudge asked quietly, unsure if I was asleep.

"Yeah?"

"Um, why are you and Fang fighting so much?" It was the shortest sentence I'd heard her say in a month.

"I know." Angel. I swear, if that girl says something about us being in love, I am going to take away Celeste for a week. Hear that, Angel? A _week_ without your precious bear if you utter one thing about Fang and me.

"But it's true, Max," Angel said sweetly.

"What's true?" Nudge began. "What was going on in her mind? What did she threaten you with? What…" she trailed on, asking way too many questions.

I looked down at the sleeping form next to me, making sure that Em really was asleep. Her breath was deep and peaceful, her eyes were closed, and she hadn't said anything to this bizarre conversation. Good enough for me.

"Nudge." Nudge stopped talking, eager for answers to her numerous questions. "Angel thinks that Fang likes me." Nudge was quiet.

It seemed like she might be mentally asking Angel for either more details or conformation. They were in the other queen bed; we had plenty of room with only four people, though I don't think the boys fared quiet as well.

"And that you like him!" Nudge accused suddenly. So, she _had _been talking to Angel.

"Yes," I sighed. "But it's completely bogus. I mean, come on, that's ridiculous!" I rolled over in the clean sheets, wondering what the rest of the flock was doing.

"Not according to Fang's thoughts!" Nudge giggled. I could tell she was talking incessantly to Angel, otherwise her replies would have been much longer.

At her words, I shot up in my bed. "What's in Fang's thoughts?" I screeched bluntly, poorly hiding my curiosity. The girls burst into giggles, and weren't able to stop for a few minutes.

I was getting impatient when Angel finally said simply, "He likes you." Nudge opened her mouth to say more, but stopped. I assumed she had received a mental stop from Angel.

After a long silence, I spoke. "Fine… don't tell me. But I'll get it out of you somehow."

I must have imagined the small smile that was on Em's face when I plopped down on the bed again.

**(LINE BREAK!) **

"Em, where'd you get that shirt? I really like it; I mean, it really pops and I like that caption. It's pretty clever, and funny. I mean, it's not the best I've ever seen, but it's still pretty co-"

"Nudge!" I warned. She blushed, but continued to gaze expectantly at Em. She was wearing jean capris today, but her shirt was what caught your eye.

It was an orange cami, but it had a these weird swirly things on it and there was "Swirl; Twirl; Work it for the Camera, Girl!" in, on, and around the marks in hot pink. Her pouch from last night was gone, and it fit her nicely.

"Oh, I make my own shirts," Em said, beaming at Nudge's compliment. "The label's 'Problematic.'" I gaped at her. She made her own t-shirts. This girl was W-E-I-R-D. And yet, strangely awesome.

Her dad had cooked a huge and delicious breakfast, and we were just finishing our last bites. Iggy had enjoyed the break from cooking, as well as spending time with Em. He seemed to have warmed up to her well, and they had talked a lot during breakfast.

See, Em talked a lot, almost as much as Nudge. She was just more polite, knew how to trim it down, and let the other person talk a lot, too. Em was just so cool. Even Nudge, who admittedly gave Em death glares every time she made Iggy smile too bigly, really liked her. We all did.

Except Fang. I mean, what I said earlier, about him being immune to her happy disease, was literally true. Everyone was so enraptured by her very presence, smiling and laughing and in general just being in a great mood. But Fang just held back. Not even his eyes revealed any interest in Em.

Em was still chatting with Nudge about designing when we heard a huge crash. Flipping my head around, I saw the door on the ground, a particularly big eraser standing on it with one foot, looking extremely confident. About ten other erasers stood behind him.

I heard Em scream behind us. I silently thanked whoever was listening that Regina and Em's father had left a few minutes ago.

The erasers just couldn't have waited? Not only was our vacation ruined, but now Em was in danger, something I'd hoped she'd never be in. Could things get any worse?

_You have no idea, Maximum,_ the Voice said in his undistinguishable tone. Thank you, Voice. Thank you.

Then the huge one came flying at me, his huge foot extended and sailing towards my chest, and I didn't have time to think about anything else.

**Good? I hoped you liked! I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow! You'll just have to wait for updates. (It's not like anyone will die, XD) I am going to have to restrain myself from writing more tonight, so I hope that means it was a good cliffie!**

**Peace, Love, and Having Breakfast Interrupted By Erasers (eck!),**

**Emiline**


	6. Jix's Warning

**Thanks to QuEeNoFwHiNiNg and RetteMith (I'm so glad you didn't die) for their reviews. They both made me happy.**

**All right, so are y'all mad at me? I know, I know, it's been a long time. I thik you'll just have to except that I'm a bad updater. Sorry. Anyway, this one is a teensy bit longer than most of my others, and I hope it doesn't move to fast, or is too confusing. I'm terrible at fight scenes, so I apologize that you have to read this. It's not my best chapter, but I've been so busy, I haven't been able to finish it. Ah, well. I'm gonna stop rattling on so that you can actually read.**

**Disclaimer: As much as my wittle heart desires it, I do not own Maximum Ride. Yes, I do think you should feel sorry for me and bake me cookies. Preferably homemade oatmeal raisin. Yum. (Jeb's-worst-nightmare, this is especially directed to you.)**

Quickly, I grabbed his huge, wolfish ankle and swung with all my strength. The eraser went hard into the cream tile. While on the floor, he karate-chopped my ankle bone, you know the one that protrudes. It hurt. Really hurt.

With a yowl, I grabbed it and started hopping foolishly on my left foot. Realizing how stupid I looked, and remembering my philosophy (Expect to get hurt; don't let it surprise you), I straightened myself up and aimed a punch at the eraser's stomach.

With a sickening thud, it struck and his stomach retracted. Angered, he swung at me with a clawed fist. I managed to duck it, while swinging an arm into his stomach. That seemed to be a sensitive spot for him.

Sure enough, he howled at the impact. While his attention was taken, I aimed a roundhouse kick at his chest. I hit, and he was moved back a few inches. I took a step forward and began to punch repeatedly at him wherever I could reach: his stomach, chest, shoulder, face, abdomen.

He seemed helpless, just giving up and holding up his hands in a failed attempt at defensive action. Some eraser. So while I was beating him up, I had a chance to glance around.

Strangely, all of the other erasers were attacking my flock, and leaving me alone. Fang was fighting three and was delivering a hard kick in the shins at the one closest to him. Nudge and Gazzy were taking on two together. Gazzy was ducking at a hit and Nudge aimed a good kick at the other. I saw Angel with one body unconscious next to her, and she was standing still as two more came rushing towards her. Not a second too late, they skidded to a halt and started attacking each other. That mind power thing was creepy.

I glanced over further, by the table we had been eating on, and saw Iggy and Em. Em was on the floor curled up by Iggy's feet, crying. Iggy was fighting two erasers, while protecting Em, too. I sometimes forget that guy's blind, he's so good at this stuff.

I watched, continuing to defeat the eraser absentmindedly. Hey, I wasn't so bad myself. One eraser took a swing at Iggy, and Ig dropped and flattened himself on the floor, grabbing the ankle of that eraser and the other. Yanking, the lupine-human hybrids **(A/N: I know JP never uses that, but whatever. I didn't want to use 'eraser' three times in a sentence if I could help it.)** fell. Iggy got up as they did and the eraser to his right had a clear shot at his head.

I screamed, "Iggy! Watch out!" but it was too late. Iggy dropped to the ground next to Em, unconscious. The eraser had hit him hard.

"Iggy!" Em screeched. She stood up suddenly and punched the eraser that had hit Iggy in the nose. He crumpled to the ground. I stopped punching the eraser.

She punched the other one quickly and it went down, too. Then Em dropped down to Iggy and started crooning his name, apparently unaware that he was knocked out on a weekly basis.

What the he-heck had just happened? Em, the only human of us, had just punched an eraser. And he had fallen.

I had completely abandoned my attack on the biggest eraser, and was rewarded with a sharp hit at my jaw. I heard it make this popping sound, and then I was punched in the stomach, and I flew backward. The eraser was really mad from his defeat and, to my extreme disappointment, it seemed to have had no effect on him physically.

I struggled to get up, but he was almost immediately on top of me, straddling my stomach. He leaned forward, so close I could taste his rotten breath. I wiggled underneath him, but his great mass was too heavy.

"I was sent with a message, Max," he sneered, his upper lip curling. "You don't have long. If you're as good as you think, you'll figure it out. If not… well, I'll get a prize." His rough voice was unnerving, especially coupled with the rancid breath. Thankfully, he looked like he was about to leave. After all, his message was delivered.

He seemed to notice my expression because he growled in that gruff voice, "Oh no, Max. Not _just _yet. First, I have something I have to do." He raised a poised finger, claw ready. In two quick motions, he scratched both sides of my face, right below my cheekbones. I breathed in as he left them stinging. I could feel hot blood ooze out. He smirked and looked terribly proud of himself.

"By the way, name's Jix. Just thought you might want to curse the one who's going to kill you." He stood up then, and called his team. "Come on. The message's been delivered." He kicked me hard as I started to get up, and gave me a sneer before unfurling his black wings and taking off, his team, some of them carrying bodies, close behind.

"Report." I started to get up, and my voice was slightly shaky from my encounter with Jix.

"I'm 'kay," Nudge said, though she looked a little battered. "What was the message the leader talked about just then?" I told her I'd address that in a minute, after everyone had licked their wounds.

"I'm fine, too," Gazzy said, wiping blood from a small cut on his cheek.

"Good." Fang.

"I'm okay, Max," Angel said. Looking at her, she looked unscathed, if a little tired. I doubted she'd even engaged in physical combat. I looked over at Iggy, who hadn't said anything, not even "Bite me."

He was still on the floor, Em sitting by him, somehow with a bucket of water and a wet towel. Her face was streaked and gleaming with tears. She was dabbing at Iggy's face with the towel, cleaning his scrapes and bruises, while trying to wake him up.

"Is he okay?" she said weakly. She was shaking slightly; the erasers must have frightened her, and Iggy passing can't have helped much..

"Should be." I shrugged casually. This happened to us a lot. It was no big deal. Em nodded, still looking scared.

"What was that? What were those?" she asked, still shaking and looking pale.

"Erasers. Wolf-men. They're after us." She nodded again, her eyes on Iggy as she continued to dab with the towel.

"Why?"

"Well. Um." I didn't know what to tell her. The truth?

"Max," Fang warned, his words slow and deliberate. "It's not safe. I don't trust her." But I did. And I was the paranoid one here, right?

"Well, I don't care. She deserves to know."

And so I told her. I told her everything. I told her about Ari and Jeb, Anne and the Griffiths, Max II and the school. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel helped a little. Fang kept silent. While I was talking, Iggy woke up and added, too, Em was satisfied with his health.

Em asked questions: wide-eyed, nonjudgmental. She touched our wings with wonder; she sympathized with our sob stories; she cried for our fate. I found myself liking her even more. Em truly was the best friend an avian- human hybrid could have.

"The leader of the gang that just came in here. His name was Jix. He gave me a message." I had all their attention now, even Fang's. "He said that our time was almost up. We had to figure it out why, or we'd die." Silence.

"Well, that sucks." Total was the first one to beak the ice. **(A/N: I just realized a little earlier that he wasn't in here anywhere. So, um. In the restaurant they used the whole help dog thing, and he couldn't speak in front of Em. Yeah.)**

"We'd better get to work," Fang said as simply as possible. That was aggravating, as usual.

"As much as it pains me to say this, Fang is right. And we need to get going." I glanced at Em, standing alone in the corner, looking dejected at my words. As much as I hated to leave, I knew we had to. Em might, apparently and quite shockingly, be able to hold her own in a fight, but her parents… I wasn't so sure.

The others nodded solemnly. Suddenly, Em stood up. With a stubborn glare, she declared, "I'm going with you! Don't try to stop me!"

"Em, be reasonable. First of all, you can't fly. And what about your parents?" I said.

"I don't care," Em said resolutely. "I'll leave a letter."

"And the flying thing?"

"I'll carry her," Iggy said confidently. He looked so determined, but Em didn't have our light bones. She would be really heavy, and I wasn't really sure if Iggy could carry her as far as we might need to go.

Em smiled hugely, her perfect smile brightening the room. Before I could voice my objections, she had zipped to the kitchen and grabbed a pen. There was no stopping her now.

"Iggy," I hissed, dragging out the name with all the disapproval I could manage. He stared at the wall, or, at least, his head stayed directed to the wall, and he showed no signs of acknowledgement. Em was scribbling furiously in the kitchen. "How do you know you can carry her? And all that way?"

"I don't trust her." Fang's voice was cold and unfeeling, but he still managed to convey his anger at me. Dang, I really needed to figure out how he did that. "How did she knock out the eraser?"

"Um, maybe she's strong? And she was angry because Iggy was hurt. She couldn't be that all that bad if she was upset that one of us was in danger." I refused to believe Em was evil or dangerous in any way. Anyone that was as sweet and kind as she was just couldn't be bad, right?

_Things are not always as they seem, Maximum. _

_Thank you, Voice, for reciting last week's fortune cookie. Now, if you don't mind, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Like, how to cart around a 14- year old human._

_This may be more important than you think._ I sighed and didn't bother asking what it meant. I knew it wouldn't answer me.

"No, Max," Fang said. "Now stop talking to your stupid voice and tell Em she can't go."

"No," I said. "If Iggy says she can carry her, he can carry her. I'll help, too." My anger at Fang seemed to diminish any doubts about Em coming, and I would do anything to insure that she did. Fang stared angrily at me, but if he was going to say anything, he was cut off by Em's reappearance.

"Okay, can we go now?" she asked, excited. Um, what about clothes? Should she bring anything else? I doubted that it would be a good idea, as we would probably have our hands full enough with just her. No, then.

"Yes."

We walked into her backyard, which was fenced in. And by "fenced in," I mean surrounded by a six- foot tall concrete wall. Iggy and I got on either side of Em, and took her arms like we were escorting her to a ball or something.

"One, Two, Three!" I counted, and on three we ran and jumped simultaneously, flapping our wings open and sliding apart so that we were each only holding a hand. Em screamed in delight, and, I think, a little fear. I turned my head around as we gained altitude and saw Angel and Gazzy flying towards us, their white wings gleaming in the sunlight, and Fang taking off, his black ones striking in comparison. Still running was Nudge, but before long she was up in the air, making me smile.

**OK, so, good? Please review! They make my day! I will try to write quickly, but I shaln't post anything until I have three reviews, simply because I only got two last time (although they were both wondrous). Anyway, I'll write as fast as I can, starting tomorrow, but don't be surprised if you don't see this story again for a while. **

**Peace and Love and Surprise Attacks by Erasers in Your New Friend's Home,**

**Emiline**


End file.
